So I talked about this with T yesterday, saying I would be interested in meeting with a backup while he was away and asking how exactly that would work. Like would I have to do an intake session with them? Because I wasn't sure how helpful that would be. He said normally it's because a client is in crisis so they would just address stuff to get them through that. So then it sounded like maybe this was just supposed to be for if I was in crisis?

I asked about whether it was OK to set up a session with one (he apparently has two) if I wasn't in crisis, just to have someone to give support during that week. He seemed to say that was OK. But said if I was in crisis, they could likely get me in the next day (where I thought I'd need to make appointment in advance). I said how some people on here had said seeing one could help me to get a different perspective on some stuff, and I agreed. He said that could potentially be confusing. And that if I ended up deciding I wanted to start seeing that T instead of him, it would cause an issue for him, because he wouldn't know if he could trust them as a backup in the future (I guess because they stole his client?). But then he also said if I wanted a second opinion to feel free to get that, I guess with a different T than one of his backups? I don't know...

So now I'm feeling much less sure about whether it's OK to just see one of his backups for a single session while he's away--I guess I'll clarify more Thursday? But then I'm also wondering, would it be worthwhile to see if one of the other T's I'd had on my "maybe" list might have availability? But I also wouldn't necessarily want to go with the intention of an intake session. I suppose I could tell them that I just want a bit of extra support while T is away and to also get a second opinion on something, see what they say? (Like in the email asking about availability that week.) Because then I'd feel much more free to talk about my T, for example.

Thoughts?